Ultrafast broadband wings its way to rural Llanymawddwy

The rural community of Llanymawddwy, in Gwynedd, will now be able to access some of the fastest and most reliable broadband speeds in Europe thanks to a partnership between local residents and Openreach.

Situated near the head of the river Dyfi and nearly 20 miles from Machynlleth, the secluded village of Llanymawddwy will be able to access speeds of up to one gigabit bit per second (1Gbps) using Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) technology where fibre is run directly from the exchange all the way to property.

In order to build this ‘full fibre’- network Openreach engineers replaced and erected a total of 36 new telephone poles to carry more than 15 miles of fibre cable from the telephone exchange in Dolgellau to the residents of Llanymawddwy.

The improved fibre broadband infrastructure, which will cover 70 properties, is being enabled by Openreach’s Community Fibre Partnership (CFP) programme - a scheme which is designed to help people living and working in rural communities that are not included in any current roll-out plans. By working with Openreach to co-fund the installation, hundreds of communities across the UK have been able to bring ultrafast, ultra-reliable broadband to their local area, despite the commercial challenges.

The cost of the Llanymawddwy CFP will be covered by investment from both Openreach and the residents themselves who were able to fully cover their contribution by accessing the Welsh Government’s top-up to the UK Government’s Rural Gigabit Voucher scheme.

Local Councillor, John Pugh Roberts, said “We’re very pleased that ultrafast broadband has arrived in Llanymawddwy and Cwm Cywarch.”

“It will transform our day-to-day lives– for the younger generation, businesses and those that are working from home. It’ll be a valuable asset to the area.”

Openreach Partnership Director for Wales, Connie Dixon, said: “We all know how essential it is for homes and businesses up and down the country to have fast, reliable broadband. From running a business to home schooling and shopping - so much is done online.”

“While more than 95 per cent of premises in Wales can already access superfast broadband we know there is more to do to reach those final premises.

“There are a small number of communities, such as Llanymawddwy, that are missing out on good broadband connectivity as providers, for a variety of reasons, struggle to upgrade alone. To bridge this gap our Community Fibre Partnership helps bring high-speed connections to those areas.

“This has been a huge engineering challenge for our local engineers but by making ultrafast broadband available to the Llanymawddwy community we’re underlining our commitment to making fibre broadband as widely available as possible across Wales – including the ‘hard to reach’ areas.”

Welsh Government Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport Lee Waters said: “We have a package of measures to bring fast reliable broadband to the remaining communities who are yet to receive it. One of the measures is a top up to the UK Government’s Rural Gigabit Voucher scheme which allows communities to upgrade to some of the fastest broadband speeds available. It’s great to see Llanymawddwy benefit from this.”

More than 120,000 homes and businesses have signed up to Openreach’s Community Fibre Partnership CFP programme which is bringing fibre broadband to some of the most challenging areas of Wales and the rest of the UK.

Rural residents and businesses in Wales with broadband speeds of less than 30 megabit per second (Mbps) available may be eligible for vouchers from both UK and Welsh Government towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband to their premises when part of a group project. Residents can be eligible to claim up to £3,000 while small to medium sized businesses can claim up to £7,000 to upgrade to gigabit broadband to help meet the costs of a Community Fibre Partnership.

Once Openreach has installed the infrastructure, residents can place an order for the new faster services with a Internet Service Provider of their choice.

Recent research suggests the new full fibre network which has been built to reach Llanymawddwy could bring clear economic benefits as Wales looks to bounce back from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A report by the Centre for Economics & Business Research (Cebr) found that connecting everyone in Wales to ‘full fibre’ broadband would create nearly a £2 billion boost to the Welsh economy, by unlocking smarter ways of working, better public services and greater opportunities for the next-generation of home-grown businesses.

The report also revealed that 25,000 people across Wales could be brought back into the workforce through enhanced connectivity - including in small businesses and through entrepreneurship.

Openreach has recently expanded its UK national plans and will now make FTTP technology available to 4.5 million homes and businesses across the UK by the end of March 2021 – an increase of 500,000 premises.

By the mid-to-late 2020s the company wants to reach 20 million premises – almost two thirds of the UK – assuming the right conditions are in place to support investment.

Band eang tra-chyflym yn gweithio ei ffordd i Lanymawddwy

Yn awr, bydd cymuned wledig Llanymawddwy, Gwynedd, yn gallu cael gwasanaeth band eang yn cymharu â’r mwyaf cyflym a dibynadwy yn Ewrop yn sgil partneriaeth rhwng y cymdogion ac Openreach.

Bydd y pentref ger afon Dyfi a bron 20 milltir o dref Machynlleth, yn gallu cael gwasanaeth ar gyflymder hyd at 1 gigabeit yr eiliad (1Gbps) wrth ddefnyddio technoleg ffeibr i’r adeilad (FTTP) sy’n rhedeg ffeibr o’r gyfnewidfa yn syth i gartref neu fusnes.

Er mwyn adeiladu’r rhwydwaith ‘ffeibr cyflawn’ gosododd peirianwyr Openreach 36 polyn telegraff newydd er mwyn cludo dros 15 milltir o geblau o gyfnewidfa Dolgellau i drigolion Llanymawddwy.

Bydd y rhwydwaith band eang ffeibr yn gwasanaethu 70 adeilad. Trefnwyd gan raglen Partneriaeth Ffeibr Cymunedol (CFP) Openreach - cynllun a ddyfeisiwyd i helpu pobl yn byw a gweithio mewn cymunedau gwledig nad ydynt yn rhan o raglenni band eang cyfredol. Wrth gydweithio ag Openreach i gyd-ariannu gosodiadau, mae cannoedd o gymunedau ar draws y Deyrnas Unedig wedi llwyddo i ddarparu band eang cyflym a dibynadwy yn eu hardaloedd, a hynny er yr heriau masnachol.

Telir costau Partneriaeth Llanymawddwy trwy fuddsoddiad gan Openreach a’r trigolion eu hunain, oedd wedi elwa o arian gan Lywodraeth Cymru i’w ychwanegu at arian cynllun Talebau Gigabeit Gwledig Llywodraeth San Steffan.

Dywedodd y cynghorydd lleol, John Pugh Roberts “Rydym mor falch o gael band eang tra-chyflym yn Llanymawddwy a Chwm Cywarch.”

“Bydd yn trawsnewid ein bywydau beunyddiol - yn enwedig y genhedlaeth iau, busnesau a phobl yn gweithio gartref. Bydd yn ased gwerthfawr i’r ardal.”

Dywedodd Cyfarwyddwraig Partneriaethau Cymru Openreach, Connie Dixon: “Mae pawb yn deall pa mor bwysig yw cael band eang cyflym a dibynadwy mewn cartrefi a busnesau ar draws y wlad. Erbyn hyn, mae cymaint yn digwydd arlein - o redeg busnesau i addysgu gartref a siopa.”

“Er bod dros 95% o gartrefi a busnesau Cymru eisoes yn gallu cael band eang uwchgyflym, rydym yn derbyn bod angen mwy o waith i gyrraedd yr adeiladau sy’n dal heb wasanaeth.

“Mae nifer fach o gymunedau, fel Llanymawddwy, heb wasanaeth band eang da am fod cwmnïau cyfathrebu yn wynebu amryw heriau i’w huwchraddio ar ben eu hunain. Nod ein Partneriaeth Ffeibr Cymunedol yw pontio’r bwlch wrth helpu i ledu cysylltiadau cyflym i’r ardaloedd hynny.

“Profodd hon yn her enfawr i’n peirianwyr lleol, ond wrth ddarparu band eang tra-chyflym ar gyfer cymuned Llanymawddwy rydym wedi cadarnhau ein hymrwymiad i ddarparu band eang ffeibr ar hyd a lled y wlad - yn cynnwys ardaloedd anodd eu cyrraedd.”

Dywedodd Dirprwy Weinidog Economi & Trafnidiaeth Llywodraeth Cymru, Lee Waters: “Mae gennym becyn o fesurau i ledu band eang cyflym i’r cymunedau sy’n dal heb wasanaeth. Un ohonynt yw cynllun sy’n ychwanegu arian at gynllun talebau gigabeit gwledig Llywodraeth San Steffan sy’n galluogi cymunedau i uwchraddio i wasanaeth band eang yn cymharu â’r cyflymaf yn Ewrop. Mae’n dda gweld Llanymawddwy yn elwa o’r cynllun.”

Erbyn hyn mae dros 120,000 cartref a busnes wedi ymuno â rhaglen partneriaeth ffeibr cymunedol Openreach sy’n lledu band eang ffeibr i rai o’r ardaloedd mwyaf anodd eu cyrraedd yng Nghymru a gweddill y Deyrnas Unedig.

Gallai trigolion a busnesau mewn ardaloedd gwledig Cymru gyda gwasanaeth band eang ar gyflymder llai na 30 megabit yr eiliad (Mbps) fod yn gymwys i gael talebau gan Lywodraeth Cymru a Llywodraeth San Steffan yn cyfrannu at gostau gosod band eang gigabeit yn eu cartrefi/busnesau pan fyddant yn rhan o grŵp. Mae trigolion cartrefi’n gallu hawlio hyd at £3,000 tra bod busnesau bach i ganolig yn gallu hawlio hyd at £7,000 er mwyn uwchraddio i fand eang gigabeit a helpu i dalu costau Partneriaeth Ffeibr Cymunedol.

Unwaith bydd Openreach wedi gosod y ceblau, mae trigolion yn gallu archebu’r gwasanaeth newydd gan gwmni o’u dewis.

Mae ymchwil diweddar yn awgrymu gallai rhwydwaith ffeibr cyflawn newydd fel yr un sy’n gwasanaethu Llanymawddwy ddarparu buddion economaidd mawr i’r wlad wrth i ni geisio adfer ar ôl effeithiau pandemig Covid-19.

Yn ôl adroddiad diweddar gan y Centre for Economics & Business Research (Cebr) byddai cysylltu pawb yng Nghymru â band eang ffeibr cyflawn yn rhoi hwb gwerth bron £2 biliwn i’r economi, wrth hwyluso dulliau gweithio craff, gwasanaethau cyhoeddus gwell a mwy o gyfleoedd ar gyfer y genhedlaeth nesaf o fusnesau.

Yn ogystal, datgelodd yr adroddiad y gellid croesawu 25,000 o bobl ar draws y wlad yn ôl i’r gweithlu wrth wella cysylltiadau cyfathrebu - yn cynnwys busnesau bach a mentrau entrepreneuraidd.

Yn ddiweddar ehangodd Openreach ei gynlluniau ar draws y Deyrnas Unedig i ddarparu technoleg FTTP ar gyfer 4.5 miliwn cartref a busnes ar draws y wlad erbyn diwedd Mawrth 2021 - cynnydd o 500,000 ar ei gynlluniau gwreiddiol.

Erbyn canol y 2020au mae’r cwmni am gyrraedd 20 miliwn adeilad - bron dwy ran o dair o’r Deyrnas Unedig - o gael yr amodau iawn i gefnogi buddsoddiad.

-diwedd-